Back-to-basics bach life is still out there
Airbnb and similar sites parade increasingly photogenic holiday houses. In this final story in a series on holiday homes, Liz McDonald asks whether the basic Kiwi bach survives.
It’s where jandals are the best footwear, old jigsaws and a shell collection sit on the shelf, and the furniture doesn’t match.
The no-frills bach, or crib if you’re down south, was once a staple of the Kiwi holiday. Construction was light, and DIY featured heavily.
Higher rates, insurance premiums and maintenance costs have seen many of the simplest ones either bowled to release the land value, or upgraded to compete on the holiday rental market.
They may not be so ubiquitous now, but a few basic baches are still out there.
Mostly, they’re at out-of-the way beaches, river mouths or lakesides, especially on public or shared land.
Most have what one holiday letting website calls “age-related quirks”. The sort of things that would chill the bones of today’s local body consenting officer.
And you’ll have to forego access to barista coffee and four bars of phone signal.
A holiday home in the Rangitata Huts North settlement, at Coldstream in Mid Canterbury, is a classic example.
For $195,000, a buyer will get what First National real estate agent Debbie Boon calls an “iconic kiwi bach, fully furnished and ready for you to start making memories”.
It has three bedrooms, sets of bunk beds, a single garage, and a small, mid-century kitchen. There’s access to the shingle beach, lagoon, and the Rangitata River mouth. Activities at hand include fishing, swimming, whitebaiting, or doing nothing at all.
The land is shared, and would-be owners must first be accepted by the rest of the group, some of whom are fulltime residents. Buyers will also need their finances sorted, because banks will not lend on those baches.
The sellers are a family now living in Australia – too far to come back for a simple bach getaway.
Boon has listed plenty of simple holiday homes in the region. Many traditional owners and renters are fishers and hunters, she says. There are also young families with kids, who want to enjoy a relaxed holiday near the water.
Some owners will update kitchens, bathrooms, and flooring, but there’s a market for simplicity, she says. Getting away from the complexity of everyday life is part of the attraction.
“Some people will say, ‘Leave it as it is’. We want a classic Kiwi bach.”
Murray Young, branch manager of Property Brokers real estate in Ashburton, says intergenerational bach use is common, and many such properties often stay in the same family. “A lot of them have been in the same family for a long time. Because people go there as kids, they get attracted to the area.”
Young says that when buying a bach, people are generally more interested in the location than the quality of construction. “It’s more of a lifestyle thing.” Location is also one of the main determinants of price in New Zealand’s bach market.
Trade Me and Realestate.co.nz list a few basic baches for sale, or to rent for as little as $100 a night. In some parts of the country, councils restrict how long some baches can be occupied or rented out for.